Texas Secretary of State

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Texas Recognized by National Military Voter Protection Project as All-Star State

July 17, 2012Contact: Rich Parsons
512/ 463-5770

AUSTIN, TX – Texas is being recognized as an All-Star state today by the Military Voter Protection (MVP) Project for promoting and protecting the voting rights of America’s military service members and their families, especially through legislative efforts to streamline the federal ballot application process.

"Texas has a long and proud history of supporting our nation's military,” said Secretary of State Hope Andrade. No one does more to protect our freedom and democracy than the men and women of our armed services and their families, so we must do everything we can to ensure they can vote and participate in the very process they are defending."

The MVP Project looked at a number of factors to determine All-Star state rankings, including:

The state’s use of electronic and web-based services to send election materials;

The state’s legislative efforts to eliminate barriers to military voter participation; and

Its track record of making sure that absentee military ballots are sent out no later than 45-days before the election and, when they are not, a high degree of accountability to resolve any violations.

“Texas and its Secretary of State’s Office have implemented numerous changes to assist active duty military members and their dependents,” said Eric Eversole, founder and executive director of the Military Voter Protection Project. These changes, along with the efforts of local election officials will help to ensure that military members will have their voices heard on Election Day.”

In addition to Texas, Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia are being recognized as All-Star states by the MVP.

For more information about the Military Voter Protection Project’s Heroes Vote Initiative or to view details about the MVP Project All-Star states, please visit http://www.heroesvote.org/.

For more information about Texas elections and voter registration, please visit www.votetexas.gov.